>> governor, if you declare that a currency manipulator on day one, some people say you will just start a trade war with china. isn't there a risk? >> they sellas about this much stuff every year. and we seldom about this much stuff every year. it is pretty clear who does not want to trade. -- they sell us about this much stuff every year. we sell them about this much debt every year. it is pretty clear who does not want to trade. we cannot lose dodd year in and year out. we have to say to our friends in china, you're playing aggressively but this can i keep on going.

you cannot hold down the value of their currency, steal our intellectual property, counterfeit our products, seldom around the world. even in the united states. there is one company that makes the valves and they said we are having some coming in the broken and we had to repair them under warranty. we looked them up and they had our serial number on them. devin noticed that there was -- then we noticed there was more than one with that same serial number. they were counterfeit products being made overseas with the same serial number as the u.s. company. they're being sold around the world at the they were being made by the u.s. competitor. this cannot go on. i want a great relationship with china. china can be our partner. that does not mean they can run all over us and steer -- steal

our jobs. >> governor brown is right. you are familiar with jobs being invested overseas because you were -- governor romney is right. you are familiar with does being shipped overseas because you invest in companies that ship jobs overseas. we would be buying cars from china instead of selling cars to china. if we take your advice with respect to how we change our tax codes so companies that are earning profits overseas do not pay u.s. taxes, compared to companies here that are paying taxes, that is estimated to create $800,000. but the problem is they will be in place like china. if we're not making investments in education and basic research which is not something the private sector is doing and is sufficient basis, then we will lose the lead in things like clean energy technology. with respect to what we have

done with time already, u.s. exports -- we have done with china already, u.s. exports have doubled to china. currencies are at the most advantageous point for u.s. exporters since 1993. we have to make more progress and that is why we will keep on pressing. when it comes to our military and chinese security, part of the reason we are able to pivot to the asia-pacific region after having ended the war in iraq and transitioning out of afghanistan is because this is going to be a massive growth area in the future. we believe china can be a partner but we are also sending a very clear signal that america is a pacific power. we will have a presence there. we are working with countries in the region to make sure for example that ships can pass through. the commerce continues. in reorganizing trade relations with countries -- and we are organizing relations with countries. that is the kind of leadership

we have shown and will continue to show. >> i want to take one of those points. attacking me as not talking about an agenda for getting more trade and opening up more jobs in this country. the president mentioned the auto industry and that i would somehow be added a favor of jobs being elsewhere. nothing could be further from the truth. i will msn of detroit. my father was head of a car company. -- i am a son of detroit. my father was the head of a car company. president bush wrote the first checks. i disagree with that. i said they need these companies to manage bankruptcy's predicting the government has --bankruptcies. they can get government help. >> governor romney, that is not what he said. you did not say you would provide --

>> that allow these companies to come out of bankruptcy. under no circumstances would i do anything other than to help this industry get on its feet. the idea that i would quit the industry, of course not. >> let's check the records. >> i never said i will liquidate the industry. >> governor, the people of detroit to not forget your >> that's why i had a commitment to make sure our industries can compete and be successful. we can compete successfully with anyone in the world and we are going to. we will have to have a president, however, that does not think somehow government investing in car companies like tesla -- this is not research. the government is investing in companies. solyndra. this is not basic research.

i want to invest in research. research is great. providing funding to universities and think tanks, great, but investing in companies, absolutely not. i am still speaking. i want to assure we make america more competitive and that we do those things to make america the most attractive place in the world for entrepreneurs, innovators, businesses to grow. but investing in companies makes it less likely for government -- countries to come here. >> i think anybody out there can check the records. governor, you keep trying to airbrush history. you were very clear that you would not provide government assistance to the u.s. auto companies, even if they went through bankruptcy. he said they could get it in the

private marketplace. that was not true. >> you are wrong. >> no, i am not wrong. it is true that in order for us to be competitive, we will have to make some smart tresses. -- choices. cutting our education budget, that is not a smart choice. that will not help us compete with china. cutting our investment in research and technology, that is not a smart choice. bringing down our deficit by adding $7 trillion of tax cuts and military spending that our military is not asking for before we even get to the debt we currently have, that is not going to make us more competitive. those are the kinds of choices the american people face right now. having a tax code that will reward companies shipping jobs overseas instead of companies investing here in the united states. that will not make us more competitive. the one thing i am clear about is after a decade in which we

saw ate it, jobs being shipped overseas, nobody championing american workers and businesses, we have now begun to make real progress. the chemical back to the same policies -- we cannot go back to the same policies that got us into such difficulty and in the first place. >> i could not agree more about going forward but i do not want to go back to the policies of the last four years. the policies have seen incomes in america declined every year for middle income families. now about $4,300 during your term. 23 million americans still struggling to find a good job when he came to office, 32 million people on food stamps. today, 47 million people. when you came to office, over $10 trillion in debt. now $16 trillion. it has not worked. you said by now we would be at

5.4% unemployment. we are 9 million jobs short of that i have met some of those people. i met them in wisconsin. i met a young woman in philadelphia coming out of college, cannot find work. ann was with someone the other day week -- beeping about not being able to get work. it is a tragedy it into a nation as prosperous as ours. -- in a nation as prosperous as ours. it is critical to build jobs, growth the economy. not one of how ben by hiring teachers. i left teachers-- that is not going to happen by hiring teachers. i love that teachers. -- teachers. i was a governor. the federal government did not hire our teachers. i want to get our private sector covering -- growing. >> i think we all left teachers. the gentleman, thank you so much for a vigorous the date.

we have come to the end. it is time for closing statements. >> thank you very much. bob, governor romney. you have now heard three debate three months of campaigning in a way to many tv commercials. now you have a choice. over the last four years, we have made real progress digging our way out the policies that give us two prolong wars, record deficits and the worst economic crisis since the great depression. governor romney wants to take us back to those policies. foreign policy that is reckless, economic policies that will not create jobs, will not reduce our deficit will make sure that folks at the top and not have to play by the same rules that you do. i have a different vision for america. i want to build on our strengths. i have put forward a plan to

make sure that we will bring manufacturing jobs back to our shores. by rewarding companies and small businesses investing here, not overseas. i want to make sure we have the best education system in the world. retaining our workers -- re training our workers to the jobs of tomorrow. i want to develop oil and natural gas and energy sources of the future. i want to reduce our deficit by cutting spending we do not need but also by asking to do more so we can invest in things like research and technology that are the key to a 21st century economy. as commander in chief, i will maintain the strongest military in the world. and go after those who would do us harm. after a decade of war, i think we all recognize the have to do some nation-building. the building our roads, bridges, and especially caring for our veterans who sacrificed so much for our freedom. we have been through tough

times. but we always bounce back because of our character. because be put -- pull together. if i had the privilege of being a president for another four years, i promise you i will fight for your families. i will work every single day to make sure that america continues to be the greatest nation on earth. thank you. >> bob, mr. president. good to be with you. i am optimistic about the future. i am excited about our prospects as a nation. i want to see peace. i want to see growing peace in this country. it is our objective. we have an opportunity to have real leadership. america will have that kind of leadership and will promote principles of peace that will make the world a safer place. and the people in this country more confident that their future is secure. i also want to make sure we get this economy going. there are two different paths the country can take 31 is represented by the president

which bought at the end of four years would mean we would have $20 trillion in debt. i will get us on track to a balanced budget. the president's path will mean continuing declining in take- home pay. i want to make sure it starts to grow. the president's past means 20 million people out of work traveling for a good job theory -- job. i want to get people off of food stamps not by cutting the program but by getting them good jobs. america will come back. for that to happen, we will have to have a program -- president that can work across the aisle. i was in a state where my legislator was 87% democrat. i learned how to get along on the other side of the aisle. we have to do that in washington. washington is broken. i know what it takes to get this country back. we will work with democrats and republicans to do that. this nation is the hope of the earth. we have been blessed by having a nation that is free and prosperous, thanks to the

contributions of the greatest generation that held a torch for the world to see. a torch of freedom and hope and opportunity. now it is our turn to take that porch. i am convinced we will do it. we need strong leadership. i would like to be that leader with your support. i will work with you and the view in an open and honest way. i ask for your vote. i would like to be the next president of the united states to help and support this next week in this great nation and to make sure we maintain america as the hope of the earth's protective so much. >> gentlemen, thank you so much. that brings an end to this year's debates in the want to thank lynn university and its students. i leave you with the words of my mom said, go vote. good night. >> thank you. >> thank you. [applause]

[captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012]

>> election just two weeks away the candidates will be busy campaigning today. obama will be in florida. live coverage at 10:10 eastern. and the republican ticket will be together in henderson, nevada. live coverage of mitt romney and 12: ryan's rally begins at 15 -- 3:15 eastern. >> it is time now for lightning ground. we are going to ask questions that can only be answered by yes or no. we are going to ask for candidates to refrain from explanations, or anything other than a yes or no. >> senator, we are going to be starting with you. would you like to be senate majority leader if elected? >> what i like to be? >sure.

senator? >> yes. >> have you fired a rifle in the last year. >> yes. >> no. >> have you read 50 shades of gray? >> no. >> me neither for the record. [laughter] >> no, at. >> follow the key house, senate and governor's races on c-span, c-span radio, and at c- span.org/campaign2012. >> with the pope is in the presidential debates, c-span is picking middle -- asking middle

and high school students to make a short video answering the question of -- what is the most important issue at the president should consider in 2013, for the grand chance to win the grand prize of $5,000. c-span student camp video competition open to students in grades 6 through 12. for complete details go online tool studentcam.org.

>> the questions are mine. i have not share them with the candidates or anyone. no applause, and a reaction of any kind except right now, when we welcome president barack obama and governor mitt romney. [applause]

york campaigns have agreed to certain rules. they asked me to divide the evening into segments. i will pose a question of the beginning of each segment. will each of two minutes to respond. and we will have a general discussion. tonight's debate, as both of you know comes on the 50th anniversary of the night that they told the roby soviet union had installed nuclear weapons in cuba. the closest we have ever, to nuclear war. it is a sobering reminder that every president faces at some point and unexpected threat to our national security from abroad. let us begin the first segment is the challenge of a changing middle east. i am going to put this into two segments.

the first question concerns libya, the controversy over what happened there continues for americans -- what happened there continues. four americans are dead. what happened, what caused it. was a spontaneous. was it an intelligence failure. was it a policy of valor? was there an attempt to mislead people. governor romney, you said this is an example of american policy that is unraveling before our very eyes i would like to hear each of you give your thoughts on that. governor romney, you are on the talks, you go first. >> thank you, bob. and thank you for agreeing to moderate this debate this evening. thank you to lynn university for welcoming us here and mr. president, it's good to be with you again. we were together at a humorous event a little earlier and it's nice to maybe be funny on this

time not on purpose. this is a great concern to the entire world and america in particular which is to see a complete change in the structure and the environment in the middle east with the arab spring came a great deal of hope there would be a change towards more moderation, an opportunity for greater participation on the part of women in public life and in the economic life in the middle east but instead we've seen in nation after nation a number of disturbing events. of course we see in syria 30,000 civilians having been killed by the military there. we see in libya an attack apparently by, i think we know now of terrorists of some kind against our people there, four people dead. our hearts and minds go to them. molly has been taken over, the northern part, by al qaeda type individuals. we have in egypt a muslim brotherhood president. what we're seeing is a dramatic

reversal of the hopes we had for the region and the greatest threat of all is iran, four years close tore a nuclear weapon. and we're going to have to recognize that we have to -- i congratulate the president on taking out osama bin laden and going after the leadership in al qaeda but we can't kill our way out of this mess. we're going to have to put in place a very comprehensive and robust strategy to help the world of islam and other parts of the world reject this radical, violent extremism which is certainly not on the run. it's certainly not hiding. this is a group that involves 12 countries and it presents an enormous threat to our friends, to the world, to america, long term, and we must have a comprehensive strategy to help reject this kind of extremism. >> mr. president? >> well, my first job as commander in chief, bob, is to keep america safe and that's what we've done the last four years. we ended the war in iraq,

refocused our attention on those who actually killed us on 9/11. and as a consequence, al qaeda's core leadership has been decimate. in addition, we're now able to transition out of afghanistan in a responsible way, making sure that afghans take responsibility for their own security. and that allows us to also rebuild alliances and make friends around the world to combat future threats. now, with respect to libya, as i indicated in the last debate, when we received that phone call, i immediately made sure that, number one, we did everything we could to secure those americans who were still in harm's way. number two, that we would investigate exactly what happened. and number three, most

importantly, that we would go after those who killed americans, and we would bring them to justice. that's exactly what we're going to do. it's important to step back and think what happened in libya. keep in mind that i and americans took leadership in organizing an international coalition that made sure that we were able to, without putting troops on the ground at the cost of less than what we spent in two weeks in iraq, liberate a country that had been under the yoke of dictatorship for 40 years, got rid of a despite who had killed americans and as a consequence, despite this tragedy, you had tens of thousands of libyans after the events in benghazi marching and saying america is our friend, we stand with them. now, that represents the opportunity we have to take advantage of. and governor romney, i'm glad you agree we've been successful in going after al qaeda. but i have to tell you that your strategy previously has been one that has been all over the map. and is not designed to keep americans safe or to build on the opportunities that exist in

the middle east. >> well, my strategy is pretty straightforward which is to go after the bad guys, to make sure we do our very best to interrupt them, to kill them, to take them out of the picture, but my strategy is broader than that. that's important, of course. but the key that we're going to have to pursue is a pathway to get the muslim world to be able to reject extremism on its own. we don't want another iraq, we don't want another afghanistan. that's not the right course for us. the right course for us is to make sure we go after the people who are leaders of these various anti-american groups and these jihaddists but also help the muslim world. and how do we do that? the group of arab scholars came together organized by the u.n. to look at how we can help the world reject these terrorists, and the answer they came up with is this, one more economic development. we should key our foreign aid, our direct foreign investment and that our friends, we should coordinate it to make sure we push back and give them more economic development.

number two, better education. number three, gender equality. number four, the rule of law. we have to help these nations create civil societies. but what's been happening over the last couple years, as we watch this tumult in the middle east, this rising tide of chaos occur, you see al qaeda rushing in, you see other jihaddist groups rushing in, and they're throughout many nations in the middle east. it's wonderful libya is making some progress despite this terrible tragedy but next door we have egypt with 80 million population and we want to make sure we're seeing progress throughout the middle east with having north mali taken over and syria having assad to continue to kill, hurt his own people, this is a region in tumult and iran on the path to a nuclear weapon. we have real problems. >> let's give the president a chance. >> governor romney, i'm glad you recognize al qaeda is a threat

because a few months ago when you were asked what is the biggest geopolitical group facing america, you said russia, not al qaeda. and now they're calling to ask for their foreign policy back. the cold war has been over for 20 years. but governor, when it comes to our foreign policy, you seem to want to import the foreign policies of the 1980's, just like the social policy of 1950 and the economic policies of the 1920's. notsay that you're interested in duplicating what happened in iraq but just a few weeks ago, you said you think we should have more troops in iraq right now. and the challenge we have, i know you haven't been in a position to actually execute foreign policy, but every time you've offered an opinion, you've been wrong. you said we should have gone into iraq despite the fact there were no weapons of mass destruction. you said that we should still have troops in iraq to this day. you indicated that we shouldn't be passing nuclear treaties with russia despite the fact

that 71 senators, democrats and republicans, voted for it. you said that first we should not have a time line in afghanistan. then you said we should. now you say maybe. or it depends. which means not only were you wrong but you're also confusing in sending mixed messages to our troops and our allies. so what we need to do with respect to the middle east is strong, steady leadership, not wrong and reckless leadership that is all over the map. and unfortunately, that is the kind of opinions that you've offered throughout this campaign. and it is not a recipe for american strength or keeping america safe. >> i'm going to add a couple minutes here to give you a chance to respond. >> well, of course i don't concur with what the president said about my own record and the things that i've said. they don't happen to be accurate.

but i can say this, that we're talking about the middle east, and how to help the middle east reject the kind of terrorism we're seeing and the rising tide of tumult and confusion, and attacking me is not an agenda. attacking me is not talking about how we're going to deal with the challenges that exist in the middle east and take advantage of the opportunity there and stem the tide of this violence. but i'll respond to a couple of things you mentioned. first of all, russia, i indicated is a geopolitical foe, not a -- >> not number one -- >> excuse me. it's a geopolitical foe. and in the same paragraph, i said iran is the greatest national security threat we face. russia does continue to battle us in the u.n. time and time again. i have clear eyes on this. i'm not wearing rose-colored glasses when it comes to russia or mr. putin. and i certainly am not going to say to him, i'll give you more flexibility after the election. after the election he'll get more backbone. number two, with regards to iraq, you and i agreed, i believe, there should have been a status of forces agreement.

>> that's not true. >> you didn't want a status of forces agreement? >> what i would not have done is left 10,000 troops in iraq that would tie us down. that certainly would not help us in the middle east. >> i'm sorry. you actually -- there was an effort on the part of the president to have a status of forces against, and i concurred in that and said we should have a number of troops that stayed on. that was something i concurred with. that was your posture and mine as well. you thought it should have been 5,000 troops and i thought it should have been more troops. >> governor, this was done a few weeks ago -- a few weeks ago you indicated we should still have troops in iraq. >> no, i didn't. sorry. i indicated that you failed to put in place a status of forces agreement at the end of the conflict that existed. >> governor, here's one thing i -- here's one thing i've learned as commander in chief. you've got to be clear, both to our allies and our enemies, about where you stand. and what you mean. now, you just gave a speech a few weeks ago in which you said we should still have troops in iraq.

that is not a recipe for making sure that we are taking advantage of the opportunities and leading the challenge of the middle east. now, it is absolutely true we cannot just meet these challenges militarily. so what i've done throughout my presidency and will continue to do is, number one, make sure that these countries are supporting our counterterrorism efforts. number two, make sure that they are standing by our interests in israel's security because it is a true friend and our greatest ally in the region. number three, we do have to make sure that we're protecting religious minorities and women because these countries can't develop unless all the population, not just half of it, is developing. number four, we do have to develop their economic capabilities. but number five, the other thing that we have to do is recognize that we can't continue to do nation-building in these regions. part of american leadership is making sure we're doing nation- building here at home.

that will help us maintain the kind of american leadership that we need. >> let me interject the second topic question in this segment about the middle east and so on, and that is you both mentioned -- alluded to this, and that is syria. the war in syria now spilled over into lebanon and we have more than a hundred people killed there in a bomb. there were demonstrations there, eight people dead. mr. president, it's been more than a year since you saw -- you told assad he had to go, since then 30,000 syrians have died. we've had 300,000 refugees, the war goes on. and he's still there. should we reassess our policy and see if we can find a better way to influence events there or is it even possible? you go first, sir. >> what we've done is organize the international community, saying assad has to go. we've mobilized sanctions against that government. we have made sure that they are isolated.

we are helping the opposition organize and we're particularly interested in making sure we're mobilizing the moderate forces inside of syria. but ultimately, syrians are going to have to determine their own future. and so everything we're doing, we're doing in consultation with our partners in the region, including israel which obviously has a huge interest in seeing what happens in syria, coordinating with turkey and other countries in the region that have a great interest in this. now, what we're seeing taking place in syria is heartbreaking. and that's why we are going to do everything we can to make sure that we are helping the opposition. but we also have to recognize that, you know, for us to get more entangled militarily in syria is a serious step. and we have to do so making absolutely certain that we know who we are helping, that we're not putting arms in the hands of folks who eventually could turn them against us or allies in the region.

and i am confident that assad's days are numbered. but what we can't do is to simply suggest that as governor romney at times has suggested, that giving heavy weapons, for example, to the syrian opposition is a simple proposition that will lead us to be safer over the long term. governor? >> well, let's step back and talk about what's happening in syria and how important it is, first of all, 30,000 people being killed by their government is a humanitarian disaster. secondly, syria is an opportunity for us because syria plays an important role in the middle east, particularly right now. syria is iran's only ally in the arab world. it's their route to the sea. it's the route for them to arm hezbollah in lebanon which threatens, of course, our ally israel. so seeing syria remove assad is a very high priority for us. number two, seeing a replacement government being responsible people is critical for us. finally, we don't want to have military involvement there. we don't want to get drawn into a military conflict. so the right course for us is working through our partners

and with our own resources to identify responsible parties within syria, organize them, bring them together in a form of -- if not government, a form of council that can take the lead in syria, and then make sure they have the arms necessary to defend themselves. we do need to make sure that they don't have arms that get into the wrong hands, those arms could be used to hurt us down the road. we need to make sure as well we coordinate this effort with our allies, and particularly with israel. but the saudis and the turks are all concerned about this and willing to work with us. we need to have a very effective leadership effort in syria, making sure that the insurgents there are armed and the insurgents that become armed are people who will be the responsible parties, recognize, i believe, that assad must go. i believe he will go. but i believe we want to make sure we have the relationships, the friendship with the people

who take his place such in the years to do we see syria as a friend and syria as a responsible party in the middle east. this is a critical opportunity for america and what i'm afraid of, we watched over the past year or so, first the president saying we'll let the u.n. deal with it and kofi annan came in and said we'll have a cease- fire. that didn't work. then we looked to the russians to see if you can do something. we should be playing the leadership role there, not on the ground with military. >> all right. >> but a leadership role. >> we are playing a leadership role. we organized the friends of syria. we are mobilizing humanitarian support and support for the opposition. and we are making sure that those we help are those who will be friends of ours in the long term and friends of our allies in the region over the long term. but, you know, going back to libya, because this is an example of how we make choices. when we went into libya and we were able to immediately stop the massacre there because of

the unique circumstances and the coalition that we helped to organize, we also had to make sure that muammar gaddafi didn't stay there. and governor, you supported us going into libya and the coalition that we organized. but when it came time to making sure that gaddafi did not stay in power and was captured, governor, your suggestion was this was mission creep, that this was mission muddle. imagine if we'd pulled out at that point. muammar gaddafi had more american blood on his hands than any other individual other than osama bin laden so we were going to make sure we finished the job and part of the reason the libyans stand with us. but we did so in a careful, thoughtful way, making sure that we knew who we were dealing with, that those forces of moderation on the ground were ones that we could work with, and we had to take the same kind of steady, thoughtful leadership when it comes to

syria. that's exactly what we're doing. >> governor, can i just ask you, would you go beyond what the administration would do? for example, would you put in no-fly zones over syria? >> i don't want to have our military involved in syria. i don't think there's a necessity to put our military in syria at this stage. i don't anticipate that in the future. as i indicated, our objectives are to replace assad and have in place a new government which is friendly to us, a responsible government, if possible, and i want to make sure they get armed and have the arms necessary to defend themselves but also to remove assad but i do not want to see a military involvement on the part of our troops. and this isn't going to be necessary. we have, with our partners in the region, we have sufficient resources to support those groups. but look, this has been going on for a year. this should have been a time for american leadership. we should have taken a leading role, not militarily but a

leading role governmentally to bring together the parties there, find responsible parties. as you hear from intelligent sources even today, the insurgents are highly desperate, they haven't come together and formed a unity group, a council of some kind. that need to happen. america can help that happen and we need to make sure they have the arms they need to carry out the very important role which is getting rid of assad. >> could we get a quick response, mr. president? >> i'll be very quick. what you just heard governor romney say, he doesn't have different ideas. and that's because we're doing exactly what we should be doing to try to promote a moderate syrian leadership and an effective transition so we get assad out. leadershipkind of we've shown and will continue to show. >> may i ask you, you know, during the egyptian turmoil, there came a point when you said it was time for president

mubarak to go. >> right. >> some in your administration thought perhaps we should have waited a while on that. do you have any regrets about that? >> no, i don't because i think that america has to stand with democracy. the notion that we would have tanks run over those young people who were in tehrir square, that's not the kind of american leadership john f. kennedy talked about 50 years ago. but what i've also said is that now that you have a democratically elected government in egypt, that they have to make sure they take responsibility for protecting religious minorities, and we have put significant pressure on them to make sure that they're doing that, to recognize the rights of women which is critical throughout the region. these countries can't develop if young women are not given the kind of education that they need. they have to abide by their treaty with israel. that is a red line for us. because not only is israel's security at stake but our security is at stake if that unravels. they have to make sure that

they're cooperating with us when it comes to counterterrorism and we'll help them with respect to developing their own economy because ultimately what's going to make the egyptian revolution successful for the people of egypt but also for the world is it those young people who gathered there are seeing opportunities. their aspirations are similar to young people's here, they want jobs, they want to be able to make sure their kids are going to a good school, they want to make sure they have a roof over their heads and that they have the prospects of a better life in the future. and so one of the things we've been doing is, for example, organizing entrepreneurship conferences with these egyptians to give them a sense of how they can start rebuilding their economy in a way that's noncorrupt, in a way that's transparent. but also what is important for us to understand is that for america to be successful in this region, there are some things that we're going to have to do here at home as well.

one of the challenges over the last decade as we've done experiments and nation building in places like iraq and afghanistan, and we've neglected, for example, developing our own economy, our own energy sectors, our own education system, and it's very hard for us to project leadership around the world when we're not doing what we need to do at home. >> governor romney, i want to hear your response. but i want to ask you, would you have stuck with mubarak? >> no, i believe as the president indicated and said at the time i supported his action there. i felt that -- i wish we'd have a better vision of the future. i wished that looking back at the beginning of the president's' term and further back than that we had recognized there was a growing energy and passion for freedom in that part of the world and we had worked more aggressively with our friend and other friends in the region to have them make a transition to a more representative form of government, such that it didn't explode in the way it did.

but once it exploded, i felt the same as the president did, which is these freedom voices and the streets of egypt where the people who were speaking of our principles and president mubarak had done things that were unimaginable and the idea of him crushing his people was not something we possibly could support. let me step back and talk about what i think our mission has to be in the middle east and even more broadly because our purpose is to make sure the world is peaceful. we want a peaceful planet. we want people to be able to enjoy their lives and know they'll have a bright and prosperous future and not be at war. that's our purpose. and the mantle of leadership for promoting the principles of peace has fallen to america. we didn't ask for it but it's an honor that we have it. but for us to be able to promote those principles of peace requires us to be strong and that begins with a strong economy here at home and unfortunately, the economy is not stronger. when the president of iraq -- excuse me, of iran, ahmadinejad, mcmullen said they are the force that threatens.

we need a strong military. our military is second to none in the world. we're blessed with terrific soldiers and extraordinary intelligence, but cuts and sequestration to budget cuts for the military would change that. wee need to have strong allies. our association and connection with our allies are essential to america's strength. we're the great nation who has allies, 42 allies and friends around the world. finally, we have to stand by our principles. if we're strong in each of those things, american influence will grow but unfortunately, nowhere in the world is america's influence greater today than it was four years ago. and that's because we have are weaker on each of those dimensions. >> you'll get a chance to respond to that because that's a perfect segue into our next segment and that is what is america's role in the world. and that is the question, what

do each of you see as our role in the world, and i believe governor romney, it's your turn to go first. >> i absolutely believe that america has a responsibility, and the privilege of helping defend freedom and promote the principles that make the world more peaceful. and those principles include human rights, human dignity, free enterprise, freedom of expression, elections, because when there are elections, people tend to vote for peace. they don't vote for war. so we want to promote those principles around the world. we recognize there are places of conflict in the world. we want to end those conflicts to the extent humanly possible, but in order to be able to fulfill our role in the world, america must be strong. america must lead. and for that to happen, we have to strengthen our economy here at home. you can't have 23 million people struggling to get a job. you can't have an economy that

over the last three years keeps slowing down its growth rate. you can't have kids coming out of college, half of whom can't find a job today or a job that's commensurate with their college degree. we have to get our economy going. and our military. we've gotten to strengthen our military long term. we don't know what the world will throw at us down the road. we make decisions today in the military that will confront challenges we can't imagine. in the 2000 debates, there was no mention of terrorism, for instance. and a year later, 9/11 happened. we need a strong military. we have to stand by our allies. the tensions that exist between israel and the united states is very unfortunate. the defense program, of poland that was very unfortunate. that disrupted the relationship in some ways that really was -- existed between us. when the students took to the streets in tehran and the people protested and the green

revolution occurred, for the president to be a silent was a mistake. we have to stand for our allies and stand for a stronger economy. >> america remains the one indispensable nation. the world needs a strong america. it is stronger now than when i came into office. we were able to refocus our attention not only on the terrorist threat, but also be getting a transition process in a afghanistan. it allowed us to refocus on the relationships that have been neglected for a decade. our alliances have never been stronger with asia, europe, africa, israel, where we have had an unprecedented military cooperation in dealing with rats.

-- the iranian threat. what we have been able to do is position ourselves so we can start rebuilding america. making sure we are pretty manufacturing back to our shores. not rewarding companies that are shipping jobs overseas. retraining our workers for the jobs of tomorrow. doing everything we can to control our own energy. we cut our oil imports to the lowest level in two decades. we also have clean energy technologies that will allow us to cut our exports in half in 2012. that is the kind of leadership we need to show. we need to reduce our deficit. governor romney's plan does not do that. i want us to pay and little bit more so that we can invest in the research and technology that has always kept us on the cutting edge.

governor romney has taken a different approach throughout this campaign. both at home and abroad he has promoted reckless policies. he has raised george bush as a good economic storage. taking us back to those kinds of policies that got us into this mess is not the way we are going to maintain leadership in the 21st century. >> i have got a policy for the future. when it comes to our economy here at home, i know what it creek -- takes too great 12 million new jobs. -- to create 12 million new jobs. what i have seen over the last four years is something i do not want to see over the next four years. we are 9 million jobs short. i will get america working again. i will do it with five simple steps. we will have north american

energy independence. we will take full advantage of oil, gas, nuclear. we will increase our trade. it doubles about every five or so years. we can do better than that, particularly in latin america. but in america's economy is almost as big as the economy of china. we are focused on china. latin america has a huge opportunity. we will have to have a training program for our workers and schools that finally put the parents and the teachers and the kids first. then we will have to get through a balanced budget. we cannot expect entrepreneur workers and businesses big and small and invest in america if they think we are going like greece.

that is where we are going unless we get off of the spending and borrowing binge. we have got to champion small business. small business is byrd jobs come from. two-thirds of our jobs come from small business. the new what businesses are at the lowest level in 30 years. >> we will talk about what we need to compete. governor romney talks about small businesses, but when you were in massachusetts, small business development ranked 46th out of 58 in small business development. the policies you are promoting do not help small business. that is not the kind of small business promotion that we need. let's take an example with the education policy. we did not have a lot of chance to talk about this in the last debate. under my leadership we have

reformed education, working with governors of 46 states. we have seen progress and gains in schools that were having a terrible time. they are finally making progress. i want to hire more teachers, especially in math and science. we know we have fallen behind. those teachers make a difference. when you were asked by teachers whether or not this would help the economy grow, you said this would not help the economy grow. when you were asked about reduce class sizes, you said that class sizes do not make a difference. when you talk to teachers, they will tell you that it does make a difference. math teachers that can provide the kind of support that we need for our kids, that will determine whether or not new businesses are created here. companies will determine whether or not we have the most

highly skilled work force. you do not ask you or me to pay a dime more in terms of deficit. instead, we slash education. that is undermining our long- term competitiveness. >> let me get back to foreign policy. i do not want to just talk about education. i am so proud of the state i had a chance to be governor of. every two years, we had tests that look at how we were doing. well i was governor, i was proud that our fourth graders came out no. one of all 50 states in english and math. the first time when state had been no. 1 in all four measures. republicans and democrats came together on a bipartisan basis to put forth education principles up focused on having great teachers in the classroom. that allowed us to become the

no. 1 state in the nation. >> and then when you cut education. >> they are still number one today. we also gave kids, not just a graduation exam that determined whether they would have the skills needed, but also if bay graduated in the top quarter of their class, they got a four- year tuition-free ride. that was mine actually. >> we have heard some of this in the other debates. you say that you want a bigger military and a bigger navy. you do not want to cut defense spending. we are talking about financial problems in this country. where are you going to get the money? >> we will come back to talk about the military. we will cut about 5% of the discretionary budgetxc